Detection of anomalous conditions in the handling of sheet material comprising sequentially printing and counting a predetermined number of lines on each sheet



May 27, 1969 w. B. LEAVENS, JR 3,446,978

DETECTION OF ANOMALOUS CONDITIONS IN THE HANDLING OF SHEET MATERIALCOMPRISING SEQUENTIALLY PRINTING AND COUNTING A PREDETERMINED NUMBER OFLINES ON EACH SHEET FHgd J9} g7 gees I Sheet 012 P FEED DIRECTION nmmqgwm l EED m CTIO N 3O 25]: RE

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INVENTOR WILLIAM B. LEAVENSflr.

ATTORNEY W. B. LEAVENS, JR MALOUS comm 'IION UMBER OF LINES ON EACHSHEET May 27, 1969 DETECTION 0! AND snam MATERIAL c coumme A Filed July27. 1966 g rum um HI ZIVVZJVIUR WILL .LEAVE S,Jr. BY 0. an, m

ATTOR FIG '2.

United States Patent 3,446,978 DETECTION OF ANOMALOUS CONDITIONS IN THEHANDLING OF SHEET MATERIAL COM- PRISING SEQUENTIALLY PRINTING ANDCOUNTING A PREDETERMINED NUMBER OF LINES ON EACH SHEET William B.Leavens, Jr., West Orange, NJ. Wilkata Codes, Inc., 300 Hoyt St.,Kearney, NJ. 07032) Filed July 27, 1966, Ser. No. 568,226 Int. Cl. G01n21/30; H01 39/12; B41f 5/16 US. Cl. 250219 11 Claims This inventionrelates to electronic inspection of printed sheets, such as sheetshaving carton blanks printed thereon.

In my prior US. Patent 3,035,380, Method for Inspecting Cartons, 1disclose a method of electronically inspecting cartons in accordancewith which spaced code marks or lines are positioned on the glue lap andon the end flap or tuck of a carton. These code marks are inspected by aphotoelectric inspection device which sends a pulse to an electroniccounter for each reflecting space between adjacent code lines to cause acount to be registered on the counting device corresponding to the totalnumber of reflecting spaces of the particular code being inspected, andif this count corresponds to the count for which the counting device hasbeen preset, then the carton passes inspection, whereas the count isdifferent from that which the counter has been preset, then the cartonis rejected. The code marks on the glue lap of the carton can beconveniently utilized by the carton manufacturer in the inspection ofthe carton blanks to determine that all blanks of a particular lot bearidentical code marks and corresponding identical printed matterdescribing the item of material or article to be contained within thecarton. This first zone or glue lap inspection takes place at thefolding box gluer. The prevailing practice is to fix the glue lap to theunder side of the opposite end panel of the carton, whereby the codemarks on the glue fiap are concealed after the carton has left thecarton manufacturer. Instead of having the code lines on the glue lapfor zone 1 inspection as shown by my prior US. Patent 3,035,380, anequivalent result may be obtained by printing lines elsewhere on the boxon a path which parallels the glue lap. The code marks on the end flapor tuck are utilized by the packer in the inspection of the cartonsprior to placing material therein, and constitutes a second zoneinspection.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method ofelectronically inspecting printed sheets having folding cartons printedthereon, to permit making of an initial inspection of the sheet beforeit has been cut into the individual boxes, which inspection may befollowed by one or more inspections such as the first and second zoneinspections shown in my prior US. Patent 3,035,380, to give a greaterdegree of security by having a plurality of inspections.

It is another object of the invention to provide a method ofelectronically inspecting printed sheets before they are cut into boxeswhereby stoppages which would normally occur on subsequent inspectionsmay be detected while the boxes are still in sheet form so that thedefective sheet may be removed before being cut into boxes, and therebyeliminating possible multiple stoppages.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a method ofelectronically inspecting printed sheets which provides a greatlyincreased scope of inspection as compared to prior inspection methods,and which is suitable for inspecting printed sheets having various typesof printed material thereon, such as cartons, labels, ad-

vertising materials, etc., which the printed sheet.

In achievement of these objectives, there is provided in accordance withthis invention a method of inspecting sheets on which cartons areprinted for the purpose of detecting errors before the sheets are cutinto the individual cartons, although the method is not necessarilyrestricted for use with sheets having cartons printed thereon, but isalso applicable to sheets having other printed matter thereon, such aslabels, advertising displays and the like. The sheets are coded withcode lines which indicate the printing press pass or color, and withadditional code lines which indicate the changethat is, which designatethe particular one of a plurality of successive sheets having differentprinted material thereon being run through the press on a given pass. Inaccordance with an important feature of the method, there is provided inthe coding area on the sheet following the code lines a solid printedarea of sufiicient density and length to actuate the time triggerassociated with the counter, whereby to reset the counter for asubsequent sheet whether or not a count corresponding to the presetcount has been made, and additionally to actuate an alarm relay if acount different from the preset count has been made. In accordance witha modified embodiment, the reset circuit is controlled by a mechanicallyoperated switch controlled by the press mechanism which is operated intimed relation to the movement of the sheets along the feed board to thepress cylinder.

vFurther objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an apparatus which may be used inpracticing the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view of a sheet having printed cartons thereon and includingat one area thereof the coding arrangement of the present inventionapplied to a sheet prepared for stream feeding into the press;

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating how the coding arrangement may be used todesignate the various printing passes through the press made by thesheet, and also to designate the various changes made on the respectivepasses; and

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic sketch showing the use of a mechanical resetdevice instead of the electronic reset used in the embodiment of FIG. 3.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1, there isshown an electronic sheet inspecting apparatus comprising means forproviding an inspection zone, such as the feedboand on the cutting andcreasing press, for moving sheets 8 having code marks thereon throughthe inspection zone. The sheets S shown in FIG. 1 are being stream fedpast the inspection point P, with successive sheets having their ends inoverlapped relation to each other. However, the sheets could also besheet fed without being in overlapped relation to each other.

A photoelectric device including light sensitive means such as phototube11 is focused on a point P through which the sheets are to be passed bythe conveyor. A source of light is provided such as a lamp 12, having afilament the reflected image of which preferably falls within the lengthand width of a code line for directing the narrow light beam B onto thepoint P, whereby the light is reflected by the spaces between code linesas a beam R onto the light sensitive means of the phototube 11. Anelectronic counter 14 is electrically connected to the photoelectricdevice 11 through a thermionic tube 15 which is adapted to transmitimpulses to the counter 14 in response to signals produced by phototube11.

There is shown in FIG. 2 a printed sheet S having a number of cartonblanks or forms printed thereon. In the particular embodimentillustrated in FIG. 2, sheet S are subsequently cut from has threeditferent types of carton forms printed thereon, namely, the cartonforms indicated at A, B and C, respectively. The individual cartons A,B, C, are provided with code lines such as those indicated at 19, 21,2-3 for use in subsequent inspection of the individual cartons inaccordance with the teachings of my prior United States Patent No.3,035,380.

The sheet S is assumed to be printed in two colors, such as blue andyellow, for example, on two separate passes. The counter 14 is soconstructed and arranged that it can be preset for a predetermined countcorresponding to the coding of the particular sheets which are to beinspected. As the sheets pass through the inspection point, the codingis scanned and signals are produced by the phototube and transmitted tothe counter.

In order for the counter to be reset for the next sheet, it is necessarythat there be an uncocking of the time trigger of the counter by asufiicient interval of unreflecting or dark space. With individually fedsheets, reset occurs when the sheet leaves the inspection point P andthe resulting lack of light reflection permits the trigger to uncock.With stream feeding, where sheets overlap on the feedboard, it isnecessary to print an unrefiecting space following the code lines, whichspace is of sufficient length to permit the trigger to uncock and toactuate the reset. If an over or under count is registered, a relay isactuated to stop the press, permitting removal of the defective sheet.If the proper count has been registered, only counter preset takes placeand the inspection continues on to the next sheet.

Referring now to FIG. 2, it will be noted that adjacent the right-handedge of the sheet S of FIG. 2. there are shown a plurality of code linesor marks generally indicated at 16, followed by a solid printed area 18'of sufficient density and length to actuate a time trigger associatedwith counter 14. The solidprinted area 18 provides the unreflecting ordark space on the sheet S necessary to provide uncocking of the timetrigger of the counter on this stream fed sheet, as previouslyexplained. The length of the printed area 18' is properly related to theknown rate of feed of the sheets through the inspection zone so as torequire the proper time interval for the passage of the printed area 1-8through the inspection zone to provide or cause the uncocking of thetime trigger of the counter, as previously explained.

The code marks generally indicated at 16 are specifically identified asY Y Y B B and B +Y respectively. As previously mentioned, the sheet ofFIG. 2 is assumed to be printed in two colors, such as yellow and blue,requiring two passes through the press, first for the blue and secondlyfor the yellow; or, alternatively, two successive passes throughseparate presses which respectively print the desired colors such asyellow and blue. In the coding arrangement illustrated in FIG. 2, thecode lines Y Y and Y are yellow, the code lines 8; and B are blue, whilethe code line B +Y is a superposition of yellow on blue as a test forproper color registration of the two colors. The solid area 18' is alsoblue. While it has been assumed for purposes of this discussion and toillustrate the coding arrangement of the invention that a separate passis required for each color, it is also possible on a multicolor press toprint more than one color in a single pass, but this possibility willnot be considered in the present discussion.

There is provided on the surface of the sheet S diagonally opposite thesolid area or reset bar 18', a second printed reset bar 18" to provide astopping reset in the event the sheet S were turned. Printed area 18" isof at least the same length as printed area 18' and is positioned so asto be in the same scanning path as printed area or reset bar 18' in theevent the sheet were turned. Printed area 18" might be inherent due toplate layout on the printing form, whereby the equivalent of 18 ispresent. If not, a separate plate could be mounted to provide for 18".The printed bar 18" does not ordinarily have any code lines associatedwith it and hence does not provide a count which is fed into thecounter.

There are shown in FIG. 3 the code bars used in a method of coding onprinted sheets to designate the printing press passes and changeswhereby a combination such as the code 16 of FIG. 2 designates aparticular combination of printing press passes and changes to which theparticular sheet has been subjected. In a printing press pass, as setforth in the example of FIG. 3, a sheet is passed through a printingpress to have a given color printed thereon. The term change is definedas the use of a different printing plate or form which is placed on thepress for imprinting a particular group of sheets with different printedmaterial thereon after the completion of a run of a previous printingplate, or to the sheets which are printed thereby, the previous printingplate also constituting a change. Thus, the particular sheet illustratedin FIG. 2 having cartons A, B, C printed thereon is a change (such asChange 1") as compared to a different sheet having different printedmaterial thereon such as, for example, cartons D, E, F, which might beChange 2. Since the sheet of FIG. 2. is assumed to be printed in twocolors, the printing of these two colors requires two passes through acolor press, or two passes through two different color presses.

The codes lines 16 and the solid area 18' of FIG. 2 are printed by meansof sheet code bars corresponding to each respective printing press passwhich are secured to the printing forms on the press at points solocated that the code lines 16 and the solid area 18 will be printed ona portion of the scrap area of the sheet which is being printed. A sheetcode bar for a given pass remains in place for a plurality of successivechanges. A code bar is provided for each pass which each particularsheet is to make through the press. Thus, it the sheet is to make ayellow pass and a blue pass through the press, a code bar will beprovided for each of these colors or passes and each of these code barswill be fastened at an appropriate place on the corresponding printingform during the corresponding pass so that the corresponding imprintwill be made on the sheet of the coding for each printing press pass.This is illustrated in FIG. 3 in which there is generally indicated amaster code bar 15 including nineteen code lines 16' and a solid resetbar 18". From this master code bar a plurality of electrotype copies(for letterpress printing) or the equivalent are made, and when it isdesired to produce a code bar for a particular pass, portions of theelectrotype or equivalent copies are routed out to prepare code bars tobe furnished to the pressman for each printing press pass.

Thus, as seen in FIG. 3, the code bar provided for the first pass orblue pass comprises three code lines 13;, B and B followed by the solid18 for triggering the reset. The code bar furnished for the second oryellow pass comprises three typically two point code lines indicated atY Y and Y spaced typically three points apart, followed by a fourth lineY; in this instance spaced thirteen points apart from line Y When thesheets corresponding to change 1 are run through the first or blue pass,the code lines B B and B cause corresponding blue imprints on the sheet.

After the completion of the running of change -1 on the first or bluepass, the pressman changes printing plates as called for and then routesoli the code line B leaving only the code lines B and B Similarly, afterthe completion of the running of change 2 on the first pass, thepressman makes further plate changes and then routes off the code line Bleaving only the code line B All of the sheets of pass 1 have the resetbar 18' printed thereon in blue. When the second or yellow pass is readyto be run, the code bar having the lines Y Y Y and Y thereon is used forthe first change and these code lines are so located that lines Y Y Yand Y thereon is used for the first change and these code lines are solocated that lines Y Y and Y print to the left of the lines B B and Bwhile the yellow line Y, prints in superposed relation to the line B asa check for proper color registration.

When the sheets corresponding to change 1 are run past the electronicinspection device, if the change 1 sheets are properly coded with boththe yellow and blue passes, the detection device will count six spaces;when the change 2 sheets pass by the electronic inspection device, thecounting device will count four spaces; and when the change 3 sheets aremoved past the inspection device, the counting device will count twospaces. In the case of counting the codes for each of the changes 1, 2,and 3, the dark area 18' is of sufiicient length and density to actuatethe time trigger of the counting device by providing a sufiicient timeinterval of unreflecting or dark space to uncock the time trigger of thecounter as explained earlier in the specification, to result in aresetting ofv the counter whether or not a proper count has been made,or to additionally actuate an alarm relay or rejecting device or thelike if an improper count has been made. Thus, the dark area 18 is animportant feature of the invention since without it no reset would occuron such stream fed sheets and there would be no actuation of the timetrigger of the counter which is necessary in order :to provide either areset of the counter or an actuation of an alarm relay.

While the electronic inspection just described is a final inspectionmade after the completion of all of the printing passes, it is alsowithin the scope of this invention tomake the inspection after thecompletion of each printing press pass. Thus, for example, sheets whichhave been through only the blue pass may be inspected prior to thepassage of the sheets through the yellow pass. The sheets may beinspected on any subsequent sheet pass following the application ofpreviously printed matter to the sheet. A sheet pass is defined as theintroduction of the sheet into a printing press, cutting press,varnishing rnachine, waxer, etc., where the opportunity is presented toinspect previously printed matter while in sheet form.

There is shown in FIG. 4 a mechanical arrangement for obtaining a resetwhich may be used instead of the solid printed on the sheet aspreviously described. In this mechanical arrangement, the press cylinder20, which may be a die cutting press cylinder in the case of sheets, isprovided with a cam 22 which closes switch No. 1 in the reset circuit ofthe counter at a fixed point in the rotation of the cylinder 20. Thesheets 24 are fed from right to left in the view of FIG. 4 from thefeeder at the right on to moving tapes on the feed board 28 whichcarries the sheets under the electronic scanner 26 and on into thegrippers 30 which grab the sheet and feed it to the cylinder 20. Thesheet on feed board 28 moves in timed relation to the rotation of presscylinder so that switch No. 1 inthe reset circuit is closed by cam 22when sheet 24A, the particular sheet passing the electronic scanner 26,is at a point such that all of the code lines A have been read byscanner 26 and the reset zone B of the sheet is adjacent the scanner.Switch No. 2 is also positioned in the resetcircuit in series withswitch No. :1 and senses the presence of a sheet. If there is no sheetpresent, switch No. 2 would be open, in which case the reset circuitwould not be closed when the cam actuates switch No. 1, therebypreventing false stoppage, or false sounding of an alarm.

In the operation of the mechanical reset of FIG. 4, a reset of thecounter occurs for the next sheet by action of the closure of switch No.1 by cam 22, assuming switch No. 2 is also closed by the presence of asheet. If an incorrect count has been read into the counter when switchNo. 1 is closed by the cam 22, the press cylinder 20 will stop and alight or other signal will signal the p'ressman that the stoppage wascaused by the electronic inspection. Switch No. 2 which senses thepresence of the sheet in the inspection zone may be any suitable type ofswitch which will accomplish this purpose, including a photoelectricmeans for detecting the presence of the sheet.

The sheet inspection method of FIGS. 1-4 has numerous advantages,including the following:

1) Sheets turned in the feeder pile are caught and saved.

(2) It prevents having changes mixed on the same sheet, for example, amix-up such as having change 1 of pass 1 on the same sheet with change 2of pass 2. It also catches a mixed change sheet as when a change 2 sheetis mixed in a change 3 run.

(3) It detects a sheet which has been turned after an early printingpass or has missed a pass.

(4) Sheets out of register between colors may be detected. The method ofprinting one color over another for color register check is animprovement over the color-tocolor register method described in myPatent Number 3,199,450 where two lines of each color were needed.

(5) The relatively slow speed of inspection used on sheet inspection ascompared to inspection of individual cartons makes a much wider colordetection possible. Some tints and yellows can be read on sheetinspection which cannot be read on high speed gluer inspection.

(6) Glue lap code lines such as those shown at 16 in my prior UnitedStates Patent No. 3,035,380 present code plate mounting ditficulties.This problem is alleviated to some extent by coding certain informationsuch as accompanying background changes on the sheet code bars, ratherthan on the glue lap code bars.

(7) It eliminates the need for coding in extra colors for more completezones 1 and 2 inspections under applicants prior United States PatentNo. 3,035,380 for a presence of color check, as all colors are checkedon the accepted sheet during the cutting operation.

(8) It permits inspection of sheets that do not lend themselves tosubsequent inspections, such as advertising displays, etc., that arepacked for distribution directly off the press.

(9) Subsequent stoppages in zones 1 and 2 inspections are greatlyreduced.

While there have been shown and described particular embodiments of theinvention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that variouschanges and modifications may be made therein Without departing from theinvention and, therefore, it is aimed to cover all such changes andmodifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. The method of marking and inspecting sheets which comprises placing apredetermined number of spaced lines on the sheet with each pass of thesheet through a printing press, electronically inspecting by reflectedlight said spaced lines on a subsequent pass of the sheet, trans mittingsignals representative of the electronic inspection to a countingdevice, and resetting the counting device for a subsequent sheet afterthe completion of the inspection of each respective sheet.

2. The method of marking and inspecting sheets as in claim 1, whereby ifa sheet is mistakenly turned and electronically inspected by reflectedlight, the resulting count will differ from the predetermined numberwhich would be read if the sheet were properly inserted.

3. The method of marking and inspecting sheets as in claim 1 where thenumber of lines used for each color is at least equal to the number ofstoppages made for plate changes on the form during the press run andwhere at least one line is removed with each change.

4. The method of marking and inspecting sheets as in claim 1 where aline in one color prints directly over a line previously printed sothat, if properly registered, one count will result from the twosuperimposed lines.

5. The method of marking and inspecting sheets as in claim 1 where thepress is sheet fed and the reset is actuated by the prolonged absence ofreflected light after the passage of the sheet.

6. The method of marking and inspecting sheets as in claim 1 where thepress is stream fed and the reset is actuated after the code lines areread by a light absorbing solid printed on an earlier pass and ofsufiicient length to actuate the reset because of the prolonged absenceof reflected light.

7. The method of marking and inspecting sheets as in claim 1 where thereset is actuated by a timed switch closing after the code lines areread.

8. The method of marking and inspecting sheets as defined in claim 1 inwhich the sheets are fed singly in nonoverlapped relation to each other.

9. The method of marking and inspecting sheets as defined in claim 1 inwhich the sheets are stream fed in overlapped relation to each other.

10. In a system for inspecting sheets having coding thereon, a detectiondevice responsive to said coding, a counting device, means connectingsaid detection device to said counting device, means for advancingsheets past said detection device, a member movable in timed relation tothe advancing sheets, a reset circuit for resetting the counting deviceafter the passage of each sheet past said detection device, and meansactuated by said member for actuating said reset circuit in timedrelation to the movement of each sheet member past said detectiondevice.

11. A system as defined in claim 10 in which said detection device is aphotoelectric detection device.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,033,109 5/1962 Frommer 101-481RALPH G. NILSON, Primary Examiner.

T. N. GRIGSBY, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R.

1. THE METHOD OF MARKING AND INSPECTING SHEETS WHICH COMPRISES PLACING APREDETERMINED NUMBER OF SPACED LINES ON THE SHEET WITH EACH PASS OF THESHEET THROUGH A PRINTING PRESS, ELECTRONICALLY INSPECTING BY REFLECTEDLIGHT SAID SPACED LINES ON A SUBSEQUENT PASS OF THE SHEET, TRANSMITTINGSIGNALS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ELECTRONIC INSPECTION TO A COUNTINGDEVICE, AND RESETTING THE COUNTING DEVICE FOR A SUBSEQUENT SHEET AFTERTHE COMPLETION OF THE INSPECTION OF EACH RESPECTIVE SHEET.